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Saturday, May 10, 2008

I learned this tip a couple of years ago and have tried it and found that it works and is quite marvelous. I love to use fresh green onions but am always out or there is a slimy little bag of them in the bottom of the fridge.Here is my marvelous tip for growing them yourself and recycling a bit.

Onion Recycling Tutorial1. Take the onion you are using for cooking, green, red, yellow, or white, it doesn't matter.Cut off the root end. You are going to do that anyway. For a bulb onion like a red, white or yellow, I kinda core the onion and cut out a little cone there at the root end.This onion came from my garden so the roots are huge but the ones from the store work the same.2. Take that root bit you cut off and plant it in dirt and water it well. You can directly plant this in the garden. I plant mine in a tub in my yard for easy onion access year round. You can even plant them in a flower pot in a sunny window.There you have it. In a few weeks you will have tons of green onions for the picking. Actually I just take my knife out there and cut them off at the ground and they grow me another onion quickly. If you just need the green parts for your recipe, just snip off a few of the green things and chop them up. The onion plant will send up more and that will actually stop the plant from going to seed which makes the onion tough.and yes I know my pot needs weeding. :o)

I did this last year and had a constant supply of green onions out of a long window-box- it was incredibly easy & very successful. Sadly, the cat knocked the window-box over a few months ago and killed them all, but I've been meaning to start them again. I do them as a 'cut and come again' thing- just take as many stalks as I need at a time, and the plant sends up more.

Carla, Sorry that isn't clear. When I chop onions I always cu off the onion end. I cut out a little cone shapped place where the roots are and just plant that root bit just like to you do in the green onion picutes. YOu just want enough of the onion left TO grow. It is less than 1/2 an inch deep.

I've been doing this for a few weeks, after seeing this tutorial on Pinterest. I've found that my onions only grow one more time after I cut the root off and plant it (in a big pot in my living room). I snip off the new growth once it gets about as big as the ones in the store, then it either doesn't send any others up or any other growth gets limp and yellow and dies within a few days. Am I doing something wrong?

I mean, it's nice that I'm essentially doubling my money every time I buy green onions, but I liked the idea of just having them growing at all times perpetually.

Ines, It really doesn't matter. I have done it both ways and it aways grows.... well... unless my chickens come along and eat them... :) So if the whites are longer you can leave some sticking out... if they are shorter, it doesn't matter if you cover them up... they will grow. :)

If you are trying to get the most out of your green onions, try adding soil to the stem(s) of the onion as it grows. I buy the onions for the white onion part,a little salt and it is delicious,unfortunatly, the store only sell about 2 or 3 inches of white onion with lots of green, yes, the green part is yummy too!But I really like the white.

This method of growing makes a longer white onion part as it is under the soil forcing the plant to keep growing. Start the onion root in the bottom of a 8 inch tall flower pot in 3 inches of soil. As the plant grows, add dirt to cover about 1/3 of the stem. By the time the dirt has reached 1 inch from the top of the pot, you will have 7 inches of tender white onion to munch on.